On
Monday morning I finished memorizing “Sensuelle et sans suite” (Sensual and
Senseless) by Serge Gainsbourg. I looked for the chords online and was
surprised to actually find any, let alone more than one set.
I worked on My Blood in a Bug.
I decided today would be the day to
ride up to Yonge and St Clair to get a youngish St Haircut. I also figured that
this was the deadline for returning and renewing my library books at OISE but
on Sunday I hadn’t received the usual biweekly email reminder. When I went
online to check my account I discovered that my account was delinquent. In
addition to the haircut and the library I wanted to take advantage of my
northeasterly journey to get two other things done that I'd been putting off. I
had a big garbage bag full of beer cans to return to the Beer Store at Dundas
and Dovercourt for deposit and I wanted to renew my Social Insurance card at
Services Canada at College and Euclid.
I left home at noon and after
putting all my cans in three bins I got $7.70 back. When I went to unlock it
was 12:30. I had this feeling that everything I did before the haircut was
going to happen in half hour increments.
I went to Services Canada, showed my
birth certificate and health card twice with a short wait in between. I was
surprised to learn that they no longer issue SIN cards because they are so easy
to lose. The worker that told me this said that hers just fell out of her
wallet once and it was gone. All I got instead of a card was a simple printed
letter size document. It was very unfancy and quite disappointing. Canada must
save $millions issuing this cheap piece of paper instead of a card. When I
unlocked my bike it was 13:00.
I was somewhat alarmed when I got to
OISE because the first floor of the building was covered with tarpaulin and the
entrance was fenced off. At first I was wondering if I had to go to another
library to renew my books but then I thought I’d check to see if there was a
back entrance that was still accessible. It turned out there was an entrance on
the side but it led only to the elevators while the library desk is on the
ground floor. A couple of young guys were also looking for the library and they
noticed a sign that read that one had to take the elevator to the second floor
to get to the library. I found that they’d moved their desk, temporarily I
assume, to the second floor. At the desk I learned that I was seven days late
to return my books and so I had to pay a $9 fine. I wondered why I hadn’t
received an email from OISE two days before the books were due as usual. It
occurred to me that maybe when I opted in to U of T webmail a couple of weeks
ago it hadn’t automatically rerouted my mail from U of T to my gmail account.
When I unlocked my bike it was 13:30.
I figured it wouldn’t take half an
hour for me to ride from Bedford and Bloor to Yonge and St Clair and so the
thirty-minute magic would be broken. It took me exactly twenty minutes. I had
to wait about twenty minutes for Amy. I don’t think there was a customer under
seventy at Topcuts. One childlike woman in her nineties had just gotten her
hair cut and her fifty-something caregiver was helping her get dressed to go
out and giving her directions as they went along.
Amy and I chatted while she cut my
hair and it was pleasant but I was feeling sleepy. I told her about having to
replace all my ID and she said she has go back to Thailand to renew her birth
certificate every ten years. I complained about my Indigenous Studies course
and my TA. I said the sign of a good teacher is their willingness to learn from
their students. We were done by 14:40.
Outside of Topcuts the place next
door, a deli named Zelden’s had run a web of white Christmas lights to the tree
across the sidewalk from which they'd hung various white ornaments such as
globes, giant snowflakes and icicles. So everyone that passes was stepping under
a bright wintery canopy. It always seems to be the Jewish businesses that get
into Christmas decorating more than anyone else. Mind you it was a pretty
secular display but Christmassy nonetheless. I took some photos before riding
south.
I stopped at Loblaws on the way home
looking for grapes but all they had on display were green ones. I asked an
employee if they had any other kinds and he said he’d go to look but he didn't
come back after five minutes. I splurged on a strawberry-rhubarb pie made on the
premises and checked out.
At home I checked my webmail and
found that all my mail from U of T, including a message from OISE, had indeed
not been routed to my gmail because I hadn’t indicated that I’d wanted it
forwarded. That’s what cost me $9.
I had tuna with salsa, shredded
lettuce and potato chips for lunch and took a late siesta.
That night I roasted a beef sirloin
tip.
I had three little potatoes, a slice
of roast beef, steamed cauliflower and some gravy for dinner while watching the
last episode of the first season of Zorro.
In this story just as Sgt Garcia and
most of his men ride out of Los Angeles, Varga makes his move. He places an
eagle statue on his window as a signal and his men come to his house to receive
their muskets. Bernardo witnesses this and runs to warn Don Diego. Diego tries
to warn his father but Don Alejandro says he is busy. Suddenly Varga's men
burst in to arrest Alejandro, Diego and Bernardo. They are taken to Varga’s
house and imprisoned in the basement. Sgt Garcia comes back to the fort alone
and he is captured as well. Varga gives Alejandro a chance to save his life if
he will turn over the list of the members of the citizen’s army. He refuses but
to his disappointment Don Diego offers to go and get the list. Greco and one
other man accompany him to his home where Diego knocks them out. Soon Zorro
arrives and releases the prisoners. The house is surrounded by Varga and his
men as with a few muskets and very little gunpowder Alejandro, Bernardo and
Garcia hold them off, with Zorro sneaking in the shadows and picking men off
one by one. Finally the citizen’s army of fifty men arrives. Varga escapes the
fort, deliberately closing the gate on Greco. Greco is shot and Zorro confronts
Varga. They fight with their swords until Varga yields. Zorro goes to free the
imprisoned soldiers but Varga tries to escape on the roof. Greco is still alive
and with his last breath he pulls his pistol and kills Varga. I doubt that an
18th Century flintlock pistol would be able to shoot someone on the
roof from the ground.
Don Alejandro learns that it was
Diego that notified the militia and so he is now proud of him.
This first season of Zorro was
entertaining enough for me to download season 2. I have some other things to
watch first just to clear my computer of some old downloads and to make room
for some superhero movies to watch around Christmastime.
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